Kashmiri Dum Aloo & Roomali Roti

Here is an authentic Kashmiri Dum Aloo recipe, which has been researched quite a bit - in fact, for several days. I can't take full credit for this as it has been learned from several sources. It happens to be one of my personal favorite recipes on this blog.  Made it 2 days in a row!  It certainly is love at first bite!! 

The Roomali Roti also happens to be one of my personal favorites. And together it certainly worth a try - you won't regret.

I have given options for healthier versions for both the recipes :)

Dum Aloo Recipe:

Baby potatoes (small to medium) - 12-14 Newly harvested potatoes with thinner skin preferred.

Yogurt - 1 cup

Fennel powder - 1 tablespoon

Ginger powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons

Shahi jeera - 3/4 teaspoon

Red chili powder - 2 teaspoons (or to taste.  Kashmiri chili powder gives good color and is relatively less hot compared to the regular one)

Asafetida - a pinch 

Garam masala - 1/2 - 1 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon

Khoya (optional - but I do recommend using it) - 2 tablespoons, grated

Water - 3-4 cups

Fresh coriander/dried kasuri methi - 1 teaspoon

Cardamoms - 3 green, 1 black

Cinnamon - 2 inch stick

Bay leaves - 2-3

Ghee - 2 tablespoons (can use a mix of ghee and oil or just olive oil to make a healthier version)

• Heat water, add salt. Once it comes to a boil, add the potatoes, par boil it.  Please make sure the potatoes are not over cooked.  Peel the potatoes and prick these with either a fork or tooth a pick from all the sides, making sure keeping the potatoes intact. 
• At this point, you have 2 options: 1) deep fry the potatoes 2) drizzle olive oil and dry roast it in an oven (healthier version). I preferred the deep frying version.  For deep frying, heat oil, add potatoes.  Fry on medium heat, until nice, golden brown.  This takes some patience, so feel free to multi-task on preparing the gravy while frying the potatoes. It will take a good 15-20 minutes to fry. Once done, remove the potatoes from oil, keep it aside on a dish lined with absorbent paper.
• Heat ghee (or oil-ghee mixture, or olive oil - whatever you may be using) in a non-stick pan, on a medium temperature.  Add  cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves.  Saute' for a minute or two.
• Whisk yogurt, add it to the above mixture, along with chili powder and asafetida. Saute' for a couple of minutes.  
• Add about 3-4 cups of water, coriander powder, fennel powder, ginger powder.  Stir and saute' on a medium heat for a few minutes, until the mixture comes to a boil.  
• At that point, add the deep-fried potatoes, khoya, garam masala, shahi jeera, salt.  Stir and cover it. Let it cook for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add sugar towards the end, let it cook for another couple of minutes. 
• Remove from heat.  The dum aloo at this point wouldn't have a lot of gravy. Lot of it gets absorbed by the potatoes.  The aloo covered in the just some amount of gravy is the right consistency for this dish.  
• Serve it hot with roomali roti or parathas!  

Roomali Roti Recipe:

There are several versions of roomali roti.  This is one of them.  You can use just the whole wheat flour instead of a mxi of all purpose and whole wheat flour, for a healthier version.

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Salt - to taste (make it mildly salted)

Milk - 1/4 cup

Water - as needed (to make soft, pliable dough)

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Rice flour - 2 tablespoons (for dusting)

Note: I did not add any oil/ghee to the dough.  The rotis were still soft.  You may add some if you prefer.

• Mix the whole wheat and all purpose flour in a vessel.  Add salt.  Mix.
• Heat the milk and water (separately).  Add milk to the flour, mix, add required water to make a soft, pliable dough.  Knead very well.  The dough should become elastic.  Cover and let it rest for half an hour to one hour.
• When ready to make roties, knead the dough one more time.  Form medium sized dough balls, to make rotis as big as the tawa allows.  
• Roll one of the dough ball into a small roti of about 3" diameter.  Do the same with another dough ball.  Brush some oil on one of the rotis, dust it all over with rice flour.  Place the other roti on top of it and now roll it together - as big and thin as you can.
• Heat the tawa.  Make sure the tawa is very hot, before putting rolled roti  Let some small bubbles form on one side  Turn it, let it cook on the other side.  At this point, you can remove from heat.  I also tried to cook the roti directly on flame, a bit on both sides - but that is optional.   While cooking the roti, make sure you don't over cook it or it will become crisp, as it would be quite thin. You want to keep it real soft and with minimal spots.
• Once removed from heat, separate the 2 roties.  You should be able to easily separate it.  Apply ghee on each roti and fold it in triangles.  Serve hot with Dum Aloo or other subji of your choice.

Enjoy :)